Hey guys,

I rocked up to a caravan park site today and they said that I need to have my caravan test and tagged??!!?! Has anyone had to do this before? They didn't have anyone that did it. I am looking for places to call.. I've found the local guys - test and tag which look good..... Anyone have any recommendations???

Cheers!!!

Hahaha

Nanny State strikes again

I delt with this issue as a subbie , found it easier to just go to an electrical supplies mob and buy tags and fit them myself ....... no questions asked.

stupid said..
I delt with this issue as a subbie , found it easier to just go to an electrical supplies mob and buy tags and fit them myself ....... no questions asked.

Champion!

Cost of nice caravan = $heaps
Cost of nice tow vehicle = $heaps
Cost of licensed sparky testing/tagging van = $100 (maybe)
Cost of electrocution = potential death of yourself or someone you love

Test and tag is a joke. If it was a major concern the average household would have to comply with the regulations. Every company I've worked for treat it as a joke and also a necessity to work on large job sites. The same way an insurance company writes off a car with a small dent for insurance purposes. It's about money (Sparkies brag how much money they make from it). Inspect equipment daily, use an up to date rcd, apply tags from bunnings or safety shops.

There's a few things that **** me about tagging. One is that it breeds complacency, I won't bother with the condescending explanation.
The other is that a Sparky will tag a twenty metre ten amp lead for use on a two thousand watt tool that draws 4000 on starting. That lead is gonna kill that motor, it should be running a fifteen amp lead even though it's a ten amp tool, really shouldn't be over fifteen metres either. Paid for years of tags, took years longer to work out what was going wrong.

i get amped up to see the positive and the negatives on this topic

Your jokes are shocking.

All you guys are just tripping

Guys guys you really need to neutralise this thread.

PeterDutton said..
Guys guys you really need to neutralise this thread.

Yeah well, sparks flew so I saw the potential...

Mark _australia said..

psychojoe said..
There's a few things that **** me about tagging. One is that it breeds complacency, I won't bother with the condescending explanation.
The other is that a Sparky will tag a twenty metre ten amp lead for use on a two thousand watt tool that draws 4000 on starting. That lead is gonna kill that motor, it should be running a fifteen amp lead even though it's a ten amp tool, really shouldn't be over fifteen metres either. Paid for years of tags, took years longer to work out what was going wrong.

I'm interested in that
I run a 2.2hp aircompressor as its the biggest I could on a 10A.
But its on 15m of skinny crap lead - sounds like I need to be worried?
How does it affect the device though?

I find coiling the lead really really tight and if it melts its to small...


Please don't try that Mark.

Mark _australia said..

psychojoe said..
There's a few things that **** me about tagging. One is that it breeds complacency, I won't bother with the condescending explanation.
The other is that a Sparky will tag a twenty metre ten amp lead for use on a two thousand watt tool that draws 4000 on starting. That lead is gonna kill that motor, it should be running a fifteen amp lead even though it's a ten amp tool, really shouldn't be over fifteen metres either. Paid for years of tags, took years longer to work out what was going wrong.

I'm interested in that
I run a 2.2hp aircompressor as its the biggest I could on a 10A.
But its on 15m of skinny crap lead - sounds like I need to be worried?
How does it affect the device though?

I lack the perspicacity to offer a concise reply. Paddles sounds like he knows.
Anyway, I don't imagine compressors surge the way other tools do so maybe it's not an issue. The end result for me, without understanding how the motors could be fixed was just replacing the tool repeatedly because it stopped working although most made it past a year or two when I would typically replace them anyway.
The only reason a good tradesman doesn't blame his tools is because we've always got the best or newest you can buy

BigJ15 said..
Hey guys,

I rocked up to a caravan park site today and they said that I need to have my caravan test and tagged??!!?! Has anyone had to do this before? They didn't have anyone that did it. I am looking for places to call.. I've found the local guys - test and tag which look good..... Anyone have any recommendations???

Cheers!!!

Having just registered a 37 year old motorhome I imported from overseas in this country (specifically SA) last year, I can safely say that caravan 240V electrics is a big, giant can of worms. There's an Australian Standard but naturally enough, Victoria has gone their own way.

Caravans are treated (and should be) a bit like a glorified permanent installation so you shouldn't need a tag and test, i.e. you wouldn't tag and test your house. In accordance with the standard, they should also be wired up by a licensed electrician. I think this is appropriate but Victoria, in their infinite wisdom, have decided that this is not the case and a caravan is more like a plug in appliance so any caravan built in Victoria should be treated with great caution because the person doing the wiring could have no electrical qualification and a test and tag probably would be a good idea.

On the subject of risk management, I'd be more concerned if the caravan has solar panels. DC electricity with timber framing, aluminium skins and polystyrene insulation and lots of mechanical vibration ticks all the boxes for quite the fire risk. If you do have solar panels, does your install have a properly rated DC isolation switch?